IKEA’s Charred All-Black ‘Ninja’ Hot Dog Is a Culinary Curiosity

Putting things together is a hallmark of IKEA, but we'd love to know who decided to put this together.

IKEA is selling a "ninja" hot dog in its bistros in Japan, to honor the store being in the country for a decade. The frank is all black, looks burnt to a crisp and about as appetizing those dogs your dad burned on the grill during your Fourth of July barbecue.

The name - Ninja dog - says it all: It’s a giant hot dog shaped after a ninja scroll! The sausage is no less than 30 cm long (in a 20 cm bun)! Both of them contains edible bamboo charcoal which is said to have detox properties. And also gives them this deep black color, like a real scroll!

For those of you still confused about the metric system, 30 centimeters is just shy a foot. And the Ninja dog -- seriously, isn't that a great name? -- costs a very reasonable 300 yen. Oof -- more conversion issues. That's about $2.95. Maybe you can smother some lingonberry jam on it, too, to enhance the well-done flavor.